Technology360

JVC develops BD/DVD disk to ease Blu-ray transition

Hoping to ease the transition from DVD to Blu-ray Disc, JVC has developed a Blu-ray/ DVD Combo ROM Disc, containing two DVD layers and one BD layer. ¶ Earlier this month, Toshiba and Memory-Tech developed a dual-layer DVD/HD DVD disk able to store both DVD and HD DVD content. JVC expects the Blu-ray/DVD disc to likewise enable customers to view both standard and high-definition video content. The company intends to propose the disc to the Blu-ray Disc Association next spring, with production to begin when BD-ROM players emerge in early 2006. ... Link: EE Times.

Broadband changes online behavior

... Surveys from the Pew Internet and American Life Project find that 69 percent of broadband users go online on a typical day, compared with 51 percent for dial-up. Broadband users who went online averaged 107 minutes surfing the Web, checking e-mail and otherwise engaged, 21 minutes longer than dial-up users. ¶ Taking advantage of their always-on connection, they practice "infosnacking." ¶ "People are more able and willing to just walk up to the Internet to get a quick snippet of what they need, send a quick e-mail, read a quick news article, check a sports score," said Jim Bankoff, executive vice president for programming at America Online Inc. ... Link: AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Clashing Formats Obstruct HD Video

In what has become a depressingly common ritual, three major Hollywood studios — Viacom Inc.'s Paramount, General Electric Co.'s Universal and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. — recently committed themselves to issuing movies for home viewing in a new high-definition video format known as HD-DVD. ¶ What's depressing about that? ¶ Namely that three other studios (Walt Disney Co., Columbia/Tri-Star and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Inc.) have thrown in their lot with a different format known as Blu-Ray. ... Link: Los Angeles Times. Free registration required. --Dennis

Q3 04 broadband analysis piece

Given current growth rates worldwide broadband subscribers will exceed 150 million before the end of 2004. ¶ Point Topic's latest analysis of the World broadband market indicates broadband subscriptions rose to 136.4m by 30 September 2004. This marks a 53% increase from 89m lines in the same quarter last year - an absolute increase of 47m lines. ... Link: Point Topic. Free registration required. --Dennis

Gallup: Online News Hasn't Beaten Old Media -- Yet

Americans are more likely to get their news from local TV and newspapers than national sources, according to a Gallup Poll released today. But of all sources, only news on the Internet is gaining in popularity. ¶ The poll found that 51% say they get news from local TV every day, with 44% saying they get it from local newspapers. Lagging are cable news channels, at 39%, and network newscasts, at 36%. ...¶... But every source has fallen somewhat since 2002, with only news on the Internet gaining, from 15% going there every day two years ago to 20% doing so today. ¶ Some sources dropped heavily: National newspapers are off 4%, from 11% to 7%; NPR is off 5%; local TV news is down 6%; network news down 7%; and PBS news plunged 8%. ... Link: Editor & Publisher.  Emphasis added. --Dennis

BBC plans video Google

The BBC says it plans to provide an electronic programme guide that will become the equivalent of a ‘video Google’. ...¶... In an interview in the Guardian newspaper, Ashley Highfield said there was an opportunity to develop a ‘video Google’. “We should be in a prime position to create the best next-generation search navigation tool in the world,” he said. ... Link: BBC plans video Google.

Read the article just cited, 'We have the best brand in the world,' in the Guardian (free registration required). --Dennis

The next mobile media

... Orb Networks...has developed a service that allows any Internet-connected device -- a laptop, a handheld computer or a cell phone -- to tap into the digital files stored on your home computer. For the TV-tuner crowd, that means being able to watch your lineup of television shows in real time -- even if you're connected to the Web from another time zone or another country. ... Link: MercuryNews.com.

Broadband steams ahead in the US

... The number of people and business connected to broadband jumped by 38% in a year, said the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). ¶ In a report, it said there were more than 32 million broadband connections by the end of June 2004. ... Link: BBC News.

Broadband Use Rises In U.S.; DSL Outpaces Cable ... Although DSL outpaced cable connections, the latter number was substantially higher as of June 30, reaching 18.6 million lines versus 11.4 million for DSL, the Federal Communications Commission reported this week. ¶ DSL connections increased by 20 percent in the first half of the year from the 9.5 million lines reported as of Dec. 31, 2003. The number of cable-modem connections, on the other hand, rose 13 percent from the 16.4 million lines reported at the end of the previous six months. ... Link: TechWeb via Yahoo! News.

Mediaport Entertainment, WMG to offer music through MusicATMs

... Using Mediaport's MusicATM kiosks found on select university campuses and retail locations, consumers can burn their own full-length CDs or create consumer-selected compilations from WMG's rich catalog. Additionally, consumers can download digital tracks securely from Mediaport's e-Music store and transfer them to their WMA portable players. ... Link: Kiosk Marketplace Research.

The FCC Frenzy Over Controlling Your Cable Box

... the nondescript cable box is the object of a lot of frenzied lobbying over at the Federal Communication Commission these days, with consequences for your pocketbook and how you watch television. ¶ As with their service, cable companies have a monopoly on these "set-top" boxes, which haven't changed much over the past 15 years. If you want digital service or premium channels such as HBO, you need the box, and you use the one provided by your cable company. ¶ About 10 years ago, people on Capitol Hill and elsewhere began to wonder if that was such a good idea. In addition to concerns that the cable people had another cozy source of protected revenue, they didn't like that you couldn't take the box with you if you moved. ¶ So Congress, and then the FCC, embarked on plans to create competition for set-top boxes that deliver digital programs. ... Link: The FCC Frenzy Over Controlling Your Cable Box (washingtonpost.com).